Keralaâs Left-dominated 141-member legislative assembly adopted a resolution on 11 July urging New Delhi to withdraw the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification of 2006. The resolution says the notification is âagainst the interest of Kerala State, nature, environment and people.â M Suchitra reports on the controversy.

The proposed Coastal Zone Management notification, which is expected to
replace the existing Coastal Regulation Zone notification (1991), will
hit the coastline like a second tsunami, say activists. With the shifting
of `zones', entire fishing communities will be moved out of coastal areas,
making way for unbridled construction in the name of `development'
P N Venugopal reports.

The Kerala Planning Board, for
the first time, has taken up environment as a specific subject for
formulating plan proposals to get a reliable status picture of the
state's environment. The board has set up a Working Group on
Environment (WGE) to rediscover the natural environmental design of the
state and to agree upon its potentials and limitations. P N Venugopal reports.

Recently, disaster struck all 53 families of the Chellipadam village in a Kochi
suburb, when nearly 25 lorries, all carrying stinking garbage from the city
rolled in with heavy police escort and dumped decaying garbage in their midst.
The villagers had to flee their homes unable to stand the stench.
M Suchitra and
P N Venugopal. have more.

Greenpeace, an international organisation fighting for the environment, recently launched the
"Guide to Greener Electronics" campaign. As part of this campaign, it ranked 14 mobile phone
and PC producers globally, based on the use of harmful chemicals in their products and recycling
of e-waste or electronic waste. Nokia and Dell topped the ranking with their decision to
phase out the use of harmful chemicals such as Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated
flame retardants (BFRs) from their products and take-back policies.
Motorola and Lenovo are at the bottom of the ranking for failing to do more of the same.
Padmalatha Ravi reports

A high power committee appointed by the govt of Kerala has indicted Cocoa cola and has fixed the total loss due to their functioning at Rs 216 crores. The report has recommended the setting up of a tribunal for payment of compensation.PN Venugopal

On 6 September, the water of the Periyar, Kerala's largest river, suddenly changed
colour into red. Eloor remains a glaring example of unchecked corporate crimes
against neighbourhood communities. It also highlights the apathy of the state's
apex pollution watchdog, writes M Suchitra.

With its enchanting greenery and network of backwaters and rivers, Kerala is
thought to be a water-plenty state. After all, Kerala gets 6 months of rainfall,
2.5 times higher than the national average. Despite this, the state has been
experiencing water scarcity, with conditions worsening in some regions.
P N Venugopal analyses the causes.

In December 2006, the Municipal Corporation of Kochi came up with a
rather ingenious way of disposing its garbage: loading it on to trucks
and sending it to remote villages in neighbouring districts; even
neighbouring states. A contractor was granted permission to transport
the waste at the rate of Rs 1,365 a tonne. The municipal corporation
didn't bother to ask the contractor about the dumping site, or whether
he had obtained no-objection certificates from villages where the
dumping was to happen. M Suchitra
reports.

The Permumatty grama panchayat of Kerala's Plachimada village has appealed to the
Supreme Court for revocation of a recent High Court order granting permission to
Coca Cola to draw water upto 5 lakh litres per day. The High Court's ruling was
based on an investigation that has raised more questions than answered. report.
P N Venugopal and M Suchitra reports.

is an independent
media initiative based in Kochi, India.
It is an outcome of the concern felt by a group of journalists ...